The creature was spotted and recorded in the Mississippi River, but authorities have assured the public not to worry.
What would you have done if you saw this giant beast in the water, only a few feet away from you?
Read on to find out how this woman reacted and why she never expected her story to get this popular.Shala Holm is a Buffalo, Minnesota native. Shala encountered a huge snapping turtle months ago, but it is only recently that her picture has gone viral.
The picture shows the turtle’s large claws reaching towards a net filled with fish, its Godzilla-like head leading the way. It is clear that this turtle is larger than most from the image alone.
Shala was with her family on their annual vacation at Niemeyer’s Rugged River Resort near Brainerd this past summer. Holm was in a tandem kayak with her daughter when they first encountered the animal.
“My daughter all of a sudden said, ‘Mom, be quiet. I can hear something breathing,’” Holm recounted.
When Holm turned to look for something more typical at the shore, she was startled to see the turtle’s nose moving towards a fish basket that hung from their kayak.
“He kind of clawed onto it,” she said. “He was so big, and we were so startled.”
To scare off the turtle, Holm shook the basket until it swam away.
Curious if they could find it again to catch a photo, the mother and daughter came back to the spot the next day in their kayak. They passed the time catching fish until the turtle returned.
“When you’re in a kayak, the beauty of it is you’re really close to the water,” Holm said. “So we were really quite close.”The mother and daughter were not sure the exact size of the reptile in the water, but were fairly certain it was a snapping turtle and that its legs were roughly the size of Holm’s wrists.
According to the state Department of Natural Resources, adult snapping turtles average 8 to 14 inches long and weigh from 10 to 35 pounds. The biggest turtle recorded in Minnesota was an impressive 65 pounds!
Shala sent the picture to the DNR for more information. They believed the turtle was at least 15 years of age, but could even be 30-years-old...CONTINUE READING